Guide to Travel Planning for RV Life

For every traveler you meet, they have a way of travel planning that works for them, although some are still refining their process. There is a lot to figure out, after all, especially in RV life. While a lot can vary from trip to trip, depending on why you are going somewhere, setting some basic boundaries for yourself can help. Some people follow a 2-2-2, 3-3-3, or 4-4-4 travel rule, as in they will drive only X00 miles per day, check in by XPM and stay a minimum of X days. Rules are great for many circumstances, but we have found that being flexible helps.

We tend to blend rules for ourselves, depending on where we are going, the weather, and time of year. In summer, we may drive early, stop and rest during the heat of the day (especially extreme heat–we’ve noticed there’s a higher risk of failure for trailer tires when it’s hot) and then travel a bit more later in the day if we are just overnighting for a multi-day trip. In winter, when it gets dark early, we tend to either leave earlier to arrive before dark, or plan for shorter travel days.

FACTORS TO CONSIDER How far will you travel in a day? Is your destination an overnight stop or your final stop for the trip? How often will you stop for breaks? Where will you be able to stop? Are you trying to squeeze in an excursion while passing by? Where will you stop for fuel, food, and bathroom breaks? What is the weather like that day? Are you passing through a high-traffic area? Do you have other responsibilities to take care of in addition to travel that day? How long do you plan to stay in a location? Thinking about each of these helps you decide your travel day.

ONE DAY TRAVEL TRIPS For trips that require us to only travel for one day, we plan based on check in time and what we are going for. We tend to leave by within an hour of check out time and plan to arrive between check in time and when the office closes, if we can. If it’s a longer day, we leave earlier. We never like to arrive after dark, especially to a new place, if we can help it.

MULTI-DAY TRAVEL TRIPS If you have to go a long distance, think about breaking it into multiple travel days. We are able to drive a much longer distance in just a vehicle than when we are driving an RV since it is less mentally taxing. We once spent 5 days driving 500-600 miles a day cross country with only overnight stops because we thought we could do it since we had in a vehicle. After that trip, we nearly gave up RV life, so we set some boundaries for ourselves. We plan around 300 miles a day if it’s a good weather day, and choose stops and overnight locations that allow us to get out and move around. For example, we may stop at a museum or park we can explore, have lunch and rest. Or we may choose a rest area or county park with access to take a nap, have lunch and tackle a few home or work tasks. We tend to plan the night before for weather and where we will stop so we can either book our Harvest Host location, or check with the manager of the Cracker Barrel or overnight location 24 hours out, and decide what time to get up and moving the next day. We also aim for only 2-3 back to back travel days in a row, before we stop for at least 2 nights to give ourselves a down day. If it’s somewhere we want to explore, we will take 2 down days so we still have a day to rest.

TRAVEL PLANNING RESOURCES There are many resources available to help you plan, and it may take some trial and error to see which work for you, which don’t, or which combo works for you. Think about whether you will be staying in areas that will always have a connection, or if you will be in areas without connectivity. That can help you decide.

digital planning resources These are great if you will always have access to a connection to plan with, or refer to them in transit. Many people opt for some of the membership programs that let them travel plan an entire trip or travel season and store it, so that is a great option.
Confession: we are not those people. We tend to choose parks or boondock locations, or end up places that are popular, and connections may not always be reliable. An online calendar can be a great place to plug things in, as well, so you always have it at your fingertips. We use this with reservations or fixed commitments.
Google maps can also be helpful to check for a route and stops along the way, but remember it doesn’t calculate for your rig specs, so be sure you are using a navigation device that helps with that on actual travel days (like an RV Garmin, or a Trucker’s Road Atlas)
We also have a bunch of apps on our phones for travel days that helps us find all these things. Check out the blog on those called Smartphone Apps We Love

paper planning resources For those that are more tactile, or just prefer, you can use a road atlas and a paper calendar or notebook to plan your travel. This will allow you to see a big picture, make notes or draw lines to circle back, or highlight points of interest or important things. If you use the same road atlas or maps from prior trips, be sure to use a different color highlighter or sticky notes/tabs to mark for this year.

A blend of resources We tend to blend the two, which is pretty common. At the beginning of the year (or as soon as we get back to home base at the end of a travel season, if I am being honest), we pick some general points we’d like to hit and a tentative time of year we’d like to visit. We also plug in some of the big commitments like family and friends, events, and jobs, then work around those. We will start with a brainstorming session of where we want to go and timelines, as well as our giant road atlas, then we start to form a plan.

OUR TRAVEL PLANNER We have a travel planner we log everything into as we lock them in, and it keeps everything organized in one place that I always have with us, just in case we cannot access our digital calendar or email for confirmations. We actually created it ourselves after our first year as full-timers overwhelmed us trying to keep it all straight, so we have a place for the big rocks in a Yearly calendar, monthly calendar for details, reservation pages and things to do in that area for multiple weeks in each month. We also added in budget pages, and maintenance and mileage trackers, in case you need them, and it is made to fit into a purse, small bag or glove box. You can order one via AMAZON for $20, the link for it is here on our website always has the link to the most current one, and it has a QR code to scan in the book to reorder.

PLANNING SHEETS If you want to just plan a bit at a time, we also have FREE printables page linked here on our website for all stages of the planning process, like a campground and contacts planner for making those calls/websites for quotes, reservation and recreation log when you lock in plans for places to stay and things to do in that location, and a travel experience wish list worksheet when you find great things to do in the different areas you research. They are PDF files, so you can even download them to an iPad or phone for portability. With each printable, you’ll also find links back to the blogs they were originally featured in.

If you’re new to this, keep in mind, it may be trial and error as you figure it out, or, if more than one of you plans, it may be a combo of resources. It can also be overwhelming with all the options available to you as you figure out your travel speed and RVing style. Don’t get discouraged! It’s okay to leave yourself something to come back for, so don’t worry about cramming everything in one trip. It’s also okay to change your mind and leave early, or extend your stay (another reason we don’t plan too far in advance). We’ve all made mistakes in our journey, and they make for great campfire stories with new friends!